The last three days have found Angel and me outdoors for much of the time. The individual tasks were numerous, strenuous and, ultimately, satisfying. In the course of moving some plants that were doing very well (and thus crowding one another), Angel came across a superb specimen of Lumbricus Terrestris -- the Night Crawler. The worm appeared to be healthy and active. Since these critters are able to stretch and contract wriggle, it's hard to say exactly how big it was, but it's easily seven inches long.
After thinking about it and looking at this monster, we decided to take some photos. That's a big worm! We were very careful with the worm and don't think we damaged it. I guess that particular flower bed is a paradise for worms. We've found several large, fat ones, but never before have we encountered any this big.
As evidenced by our garden's output and the number and fatness of the worm population, the soil is getting better. We've added many, many cubic yards of Roger's Magic Dirt to the sifted, scimpy stuff that passes for topsoil in this region. I've carted tons (literally, I think) of rocks out of flower beds and garden areas.
As I've mentioned in the past, we have two bins in the main garden area, and they're going continuously. They've produced several cubic yards of nicely composted kitchen scraps and garden waste. We have some containers in the greenhouse and some of our neighbors donate their kitchen waste too. This stuff is slightly gross to work with at first, but eventually it cooks down to some very nice soil amendment... or worm food (depending on your point of view).
Oh, and I've taken to collecting the clippings from our meadow area. I mow that every other week, roughly, and a single mowing produces more than a cubic yard of vegetation. That is wet and green and composts very hot, but so far I haven't risked using it in any area where we are trying to grow food. Still, it is fine to use in the bottoms of new flower beds or to fill in low spots in the meadow.
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